This past March, a panel discussion was held at the Stanley A Milner Library in Edmonton, titled From Turtle Island to Palestine: Indigenous Perspectives on Colonialism & Occupation.

Exploring the reality and the history of Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island to that of Palestinians, speakers offered numerous critical insights surrounding the Indigenous Experience, the policies of state governments, and the realities of living under colonial occupation.

Speakers at the event included vincent steinhauer, Dr. Bruce Spencer, Dr. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi and Isabel Altamirano-Jimenez.

This video is divided into 4 parts, each of them 20 minutes in length. Links to individual segments can be found below…

vincent steinhauer is a newo iyiniw from oniciskwapowinihk. He is a married man with 5 children and one more on the way in a month. Vincent is currently a doctoral student at Blue Quills First Nations College in north eastern alberta where is studying and privileging Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Medicines. Vincent is also a traditional ceremonial holder and works with the peoples to heal the wounds of colonization and imperialism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCxsFdA7c5Y

Dr. Bruce Spencer works in the Centre for Work and Community Studies at Athabasca University.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hexoCUTSPbg

Isabel Altamirano-Jiménez is an Indigenous Zapotec scholar from southern Mexico. She is holds a join appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. She recently concluded the research project ”Mapping Back Metsi and Miskito Lands”, which is a comparative and collaborative research project involving Indigenous peoples from Canada and Nicaragua and researchers from both countries. Her research interests include Indigenous comparative politics, gender and nationalism, the politics of indigeneity, among other issues. Altamirano-Jiménez has published a number of articles and book chapters, including “North American First Peoples: Slipping up into Market Citizenship?” “The Construction of Difference and Indigenous Transnationalism in North America,” “Indigenous Peoples and the Topography of Gender in Mexico and Canada,” and “The Neo-liberal and Social Investment Re-Constructions of Woman and Indigeneity.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yghfI4opI54

Professor Abu-Rabi is a Palestinian who was born in Nazareth, Galilee. He holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Israel. Dr. Abu-Rabi earned three degrees at American universities before becoming a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. He also held a Rockefeller Fellowship at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas. He is currently the ECMC Chair in Islamic Studies at the University of Alberta. He has a special interest in the study and practice of interfaith dialogue between the Islamic and Christian religious traditions. Dr. Abu-Rabi specializes in issues of contemporary Islamic thought, particularly on religion and society, and mysticism. He is fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Some of his publications include: Jewish-Muslim Dialogue, Israel’s Fate will be tied to the Middle East’s, and Trends and Issues in Contemporary Arab Thought.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg_o13SzmjA